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An Underwear Affair

I’ve done a couple of very short sessions on a treadmill, and I’m walking OK. That sounds kind of feeble, I know – and it feels feeble too, considering that I completed a 50K ultra less than two months ago.

But it means that my feet are healing. I’m still doing daily hot and cold soaks. I’m still doing my foot and toe exercises. I’m still doing alternate days at the gym and in the pool. And I’m still getting to my power yoga class once a week. I’m not running yet, true, but I’m being patient. And I’m being gentle with myself. The latter is advice I’m good at giving to others, but that I’m not good at taking for myself.

At any rate, the short treadmill sessions and the ability to walk like a human being rather than a badly-constructed robot mean that I’m cautiously optimistic about doing the Toronto Underwear Affair 10K on August 29. (Two weeks and two hours from now – and I’m counting, believe me!)

Should be doable. The Underwear Affair is a charity event, benefitting “cancers below the waist”. It’s not a race, so I don’t even have to entertain the thought of trying to go quickly. And it’s very much a fun/crowd/kick back kind of thing. Participants are encouraged to dress creatively. As the organizers say, “Feel free to get creative. Corsets, capes, feathers and frills! Break out your old bathrobe or slip into some lace! Go crazy! Accessorize!” (Somewhere on the Underwear Affair Web site, I think it says something about “staying legal,” which is kind of a shame, really…)

Now I’m not a costume kind of a guy. Left to my own devices, I’d just wear a favourite pair of running shorts and my VFF KSOs. But the Underwear Affair is for a cause that means a lot to me. (I’m a prostate cancer survivor.) It’s also a corporate fundraiser for my workplace, and our Branch Administrator has already gone out and chosen the boxer shorts to wear for the event. Another, albeit minor, incentive is that Joe Boxer, which is one the Underwear Affair’s major sponsors, is offering their boxers for half price right now.

So, dear reader, I present to you the boxer shorts I’ll be wearing for the Underwear Affair on August 29. A short drum roll, maestro, please…